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A City Island Barber saves a rooster he found roaming outside his shop. (Published Friday, Aug. 6, 2010)

Updated at 10:15 AM EDT on Saturday, Aug 7, 2010

If you’re getting a haircut, and there’s a rooster on the chair next to you, you’re probably at Hollywood Barber Shop in City Island.

When barber Alex Mullokandov saved a rooster from a long cockfighting career, he welcomed the animal into his own shop.

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Mullokandov owns and runs Hollywood Barber Shop at 403 City Island Avenue. He told yournabe.com that he stumbled upon an illegal cockfight just as city authorities were breaking it up a couple of weeks ago, saying “It was like God sent me there, because I really do love birds.”

“His eyes were closed, he was all beat up...” Mullokandov told the site. “He still had the metal clip on his wing, his number. He’s eight months old, and he was shaved on the bottom, that is done so the fighters don’t overheat.”

For two weeks, Coco, Mullokandov’s new rooster, was only able to drink water. But the owner started giving the animal penicillin and a mixture of old milk, salt and onions until it started to crow again.

Residents of the neighborhood have begun to send complaints to officials because the animal often runs around out in the street. Senator Jeff Klein is now looking to find Coco a proper home.